Breaking Point
by Cazza799
Summary: Dan knew exactly the moment Blair broke.  This is a oneshot loosely based on the trailer for 4x16.  I'm pretty confident none of this will happen in the episode but that's kind of the point.


**A/N: So I was in love with this week's episode. I have seriously been waiting years for Dair and so far the writers are handling it really well, plus Leighton and Penn are amazing together. They have so much chemistry. This little oneshot is loosely based on the trailer for next week but if there is one thing I can guarantee it's that it won't pan out like this. There is a pretty big chance I may have overdone the fluff here and for that I apologise. **

**Obviously I don't own Gossip Girl. If I did Blair and Dan would probably be married already. I'm just manipulating the characters for fun, so now to the story.**

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Dan knew exactly the moment Blair broke, although he couldn't put his finger on when he had come to know the brunette so well. When it was pointed out to her that her shoes were mismatched he saw her shoulders slump from where he was stationed behind her, and realised that it was time to step in.

If he was honest he'd been waiting for this moment for a while now and it was why he'd been making sure he was only a few steps behind her at all times. Now he stepped forward and with a hand gently on her elbow he steered her away. She didn't even fight him and that convinced him that he was absolutely doing the right thing.

He collected their coats and helped her into hers. All the while she didn't utter a word of complaint and as they left she even leaned into him slightly. That was when he started to get worried because Blair would never do that under normal circumstances. He felt unbelievably guilty, because maybe he should have insisted she take a break sooner, but he wasn't sure how he would have managed to do that. She was like a hurricane when she got going and he had just been swept along with her as he desperately tried to keep up.

He hailed a cab and bundled her into the back of it. After a brief moment of consideration he gave the address of the loft. He knew Ben was planning on staying the night with Serena anyway and he figured he had a much better chance of getting her to take a break if he removed her from her own world, however briefly.

It was the Brooklyn address that seemed to snap Blair out of it and she sounded frantic as she finally spoke, "What do you think you're playing at Humphrey? They need me back there. I can't just skip off to Brooklyn and leave everybody to their own devices. Do you have any idea how many balls I have in the air right now?"

Dan took a deep breath and tried to perfect a gentle, relaxed tone without sounding patronising. He knew that would get Blair's back up right away. "Blair do you really want all those people to see you lose it? You can deny it as much as you like but I can see the signs. If it makes you feel better we'll come up with some sort of fictional crisis I was having and tell people you took pity on me. I promise you I'll make sure you come out of it looking good."

He watched Blair weigh the idea up in her head and was relieved when she agreed with a nod. "I guess a break won't kill me. You promise you can make me look good?"

He grinned in response, "You can count on me." He stuck out his hand and after a brief pause she took it and they shook on it. He was astounded when she made no move to drop his hand, instead entwining their fingers and lowering them so that their hands remained locked together in her lap. She glanced across at him nervously and he smiled back to reassure her while trying to convince himself that this wasn't strange. They had sort of become friends recently and friends held hands all the time. Didn't they? Yet it had only been a week or so ago that she had been quick to remove her hand from his when he had tried something similar. Something had obviously changed.

They were forced to drop hands when they arrived at the loft and he immediately felt the absence. Instead he put his hand gently on her lower back to guide her up the stairs. Right now he was feeling extraordinarily protective of her and it helped to maintain some sort of physical contact. He thought that it was something to do with the fact that she had lowered her guard slightly. It had happened with her a few times recently and he had glimpsed a side of Blair that he suspected few people had been privileged to see. The girl was always so determined that nobody should suspect that she wasn't superwoman.

When they got inside she flopped down on his couch, removing the shoes that had been the catalyst for this and tossing them away in disgust. He busied himself making them some hot drinks and she got up and padded over to his movie collection, selecting one and putting it in the player. Then she curled up with her feet under her as he joined her and handed her a mug of hot chocolate. He had decided caffeine was the last thing she needed and had therefore given the coffee a miss.

They silently watched the movie for a while but out of the corner of his eye he could see her struggling to keep her eyes open. He reached across and gently removed the mug from her hands before the remainder of the contents ended up in her lap and she looked up at him blearily.

"I think maybe it's time you got some sleep," he said softly.

"Let's just watch the end of the movie," she replied. "I really don't want to have to deal with Serena and her new boy toy tonight."

He'd never had any intention of letting her go home but he didn't need to reveal that so instead he added, as if he'd just thought of it, "Then why don't you stay here? You can even have my bed. I'll take the couch. I suspect sleeping in Ben's bed would just be too weird for either of us."

Once again she surprised him by how quickly she agreed. The last few days had obviously taken a bigger toll on her than even he had realised. When he got one of his shirts and offered it to her to sleep in all she did was raise an eyebrow and accept.

He mulled over the changing nature of their relationship while he washed up their mugs. She was changing in the bathroom and it all felt scarily domestic to him. If anyone had told him a year ago that he would be in this position with Blair Waldorf of all people he would have laughed in their face, but somehow every time she let him in just a little bit more it felt amazing. Plus there was the added advantage that they actually had fun together. He would never have guessed that they would find so much common ground.

When she appeared out of the bathroom in his shirt she looked softer than he had ever seen her look and he felt a surge of feelings for her that he decided not to analyse too closely. She stood hesitantly in the centre of the floor so he moved forward and pushed her towards his room.

"I meant it when I said you could have my bed Blair," he said firmly. "I don't know when you last slept but you obviously need to."

As she settled himself in his bed he grabbed some sweats and a tee-shirt to change into. He usually slept in his boxers but he was fairly convinced that wouldn't go down well with the girl in his bed. Besides, the chances were it would be more than a little cold sleeping on the couch. He changed quickly and attempted to settle himself for the night, shifting around trying to make himself comfortable. The couch really wasn't designed for sleeping on and the blanket he had found for himself was tiny.

"Humphrey get in here," Blair shouted from the bedroom. "I can't sleep with all that noise you're making shifting around. If you promise you'll keep to your side we can share."

He didn't need to be told twice and was across the floor in an instant and climbing into the other side of his bed. He carefully kept his distance but couldn't resist reaching across the bed and taking her hand once more. Lying there in the darkness together something about it felt right and she obviously agreed because she merely squeezed his in return and moved fractionally closer.

He really didn't know how they had reached this point but as Blair whispered, "Thanks for tonight Humphrey" before she drifted off to sleep he was so glad that they had. He had been completely sincere when he had told her all those months ago that she deserved someone who could make her happy. As he lay there clutching her hand, he realised that somewhere along the line he had unconsciously decided that that person should be him. He just had to convince her of that. As she moved even closer to him in her sleep he started to hope that maybe that wouldn't be too difficult.


End file.
